Tag Archives: retirement

The True Meaning of Labour Day

Posted on by

Paul Moist Paul Moist

National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees

08/30/2013    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca

Labour Day is a time to celebrate the role of workers in the economy and address the real economic issues of our time.

Labour Day is about more than a well-deserved day off. It is a time to celebrate the important contributions working people make to our economy. It is also a good time to reflect on what is needed to improve the economic and social well-being for all workers.

Working people are the engine of the economy. The work we do, the services we provide and the money we spend drive the economy. But, in 2013 the economy is failing working people. Downward pressure on wages and government austerity programs are resulting in layoffs, contracting out, privatization of public services while families struggle to make ends meet. The rich are getting richer and the debt load of working people is increasing. It is no wonder our economy is experiencing such slow growth.

Economic recovery is being undermined by federal government actions over the last two years that erode workers wages, including: exploitation and fast-tracking approval for business to employ temporary foreign workers at wages below market rates; cuts to Employment Insurance and forcing workers to work at lower wages, continuous interference in the collective bargaining process on the side of employers, as well as attacks on unions and labour rights. These measures all need to be reversed and replaced by policies that support, rather than undercut real wage increases for workers.

At the same time, workers need a retirement security system in Canada to support our economy and provide economic security after a lifetime of work. It is a central economic problem today. Without adequate retirement incomes, we will pay with reduced living standards and an increase in seniors’ poverty. These outcomes, will, in turn, cost taxpayer money through programs like the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement and provincial and territorial income support and social assistance programs.

But, study after study shows that Canadians are not saving enough for retirement, and that this problem will only get worse as future generations retire. These troubling projections demonstrate the shortcomings of an increasingly individualized retirement income system. Working people are increasingly told their retirement security is their own problem. Save more for your own retirement at the same time your real wages are declining and debt level increasing?

The answer is clear. The economy needs a raise — disposable incomes need to rise to increase demand and create good jobs and economic growth. And we need to build an economy that sustains jobs with decent incomes for the next generation.

As we celebrate Labour Day this year, let’s really celebrate the contribution of working people by continuing to press for economic change to reverse growing income inequality. Press for economic change to drive the economy through higher wages and economic change to ensure all Canadians can retire in dignity.

Workers can count on the labour movement to do just that. We do that through collective bargaining and political action on behalf of all working people. And on this labour day, as national president of Canada’s largest union, I repeat my call to the government of Canada to convene a national pension summit where we can roll up our sleeves and address the affordability issues with defined benefit pension plans and re-tool the Canada Pension Plan so that it will continue to provide economic security for all Canadian retirees for generations to come.

Most Canadians doubt health care system prepared to handle ‘tsunami’ of aging boomers, new poll shows

Posted on by

From:     Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News  13/08/19

Three in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Canadian Physiotherapy Association/CNW GroupThree in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Canadians have little faith the country’s health system is prepared to handle the needs of a looming “tsunami” of aging boomers, a new poll has found.

Six in 10 Canadians surveyed said they lack confidence in the health system’s ability to care for Canada’s rapidly greying population.

Women, as well as Canadians aged 34 to 54, and those already caring for an elderly person, are among those least confident that hospitals and long-term care facilities can handle the demands of a population that is living longer than at any other time in the nation’s history, according to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual report card on health.

Only in Quebec does a majority (54 per cent) believe that hospitals and long-term care facilities in their area are sufficient to meet the needs of the elderly, according to the survey.

The anxiety Canadians have about health care in their so-called golden years is both real and well-founded

The Ipsos Reid poll of 1,000 Canadians was released to coincide with Monday’s opening of the CMA’s annual meeting in Calgary, where main items on the agenda include a special session devoted entirely to end-of-life care issues.

“The anxiety Canadians have about health care in their so-called golden years is both real and well-founded,” outgoing CMA president Dr. Anna Reid said in a statement released with the poll.

All levels of government, including the federal government, “need to act to address the demographic tsunami that is heading toward the health care system,” she said.

A vast majority of Canadians — 93 per cent — support a national, seniors’ health strategy for home care and long-term care, the poll found, with support highest in Alberta and Ontario, as well as among women and Canadians nearing retirement age (55 to 65).

Three in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Half are “very” concerned about maintaining their health in their retirement years; seven in 10 are worried about their financial future, the poll found.

Those already caring for an older adult are among those most worried about there not being enough services should they ever need home or long-term care in their own old age.

Reid, who has been caring for her own elderly father, who suffers from dementia, said more resources are needed for nursing care, home-based care and palliative care, particularly in smaller communities. “We know how to do good palliative care, it’s just not being practised across the board,” she said in an interview.

We could be saving the system an enormous amount of money by providing far more support in the home environment

It costs nearly $1,000 a day to keep a senior in a hospital bed, and $126 a day for a bed in a long-term care facility, said Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, incoming president of the doctors’ group.

“To keep them in home with supportive home care and assisted living costs about $35 to $50 a day,” he said. “We could be saving the system an enormous amount of money by providing far more support in the home environment.”

The average life expectancy of Canadians has increased by more than 30 years since the early 1900s, to 78 for men and 83 for women in 2011. But the number of years lived in good health is sliding. The majority of today’s seniors have at least one chronic condition; as many as one in four has two or more.

Overall, the 2011 census counted nearly five million people aged 65 and older in Canada.

By 2031, 22.8 per cent of the population will be 65 or older, jumping to one quarter — 25.5 per cent — by 2061.

The Ipsos telephone poll was conducted between July 17 and July 26. A sample this size is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points.

Three-quarters, or 75 per cent, of those surveyed gave an “A” or “B” grade to the overall quality of health services. However, views on the future are split — about half think health services will get better and the other half believe things will get worse.

Only about half gave an “A” or B” grade to access to diagnostic equipment such as MRIs and CT scans, or access to specialists. The marks were worse for mental health, with only 41 per cent of those surveyed giving an “A” or “B” grade for access to mental health services.

Few — 29 per cent — gave the federal government top marks in dealing with health care in Canada.